Cover or awning



Mar. 3, 1925.

G. c. E.- HAMPDEN ET AL CQVER OR AWNING Filed May 12, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 In" ,IIHI I m rilrafis.

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Mar 3, l G. c. E. HAMPDEN ET-AL COVER OR AWNING Filed May 12, 1924 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE.

GEOFFREY CROMWELL EDWARD HAMIPDEN, or PULBOROUGH, AND FREDERICK WILFRID SCOT STOKES, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

COVER OR AWNING.

Application filed May 12, 1924. Serial No, 712,828.

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that we, GEOFFREY OROMWELL EDWARD HAMPDEN and Sir FREDERICK VIL- FRlD SCOTT SToKEs, K. B. 13]., both subjects of the King of England, and residing, respectively, at Pulborough, Sussex, in England, and London, in England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Covers or Awnings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to covers for tennis courts and the like and has for its object to provide a movable cover orawning which will protect the surface of the court from rain or excessive sunshine and can be readily brought into position and removed. The invention may be applied to awnings employed for various purposes and it isto be understood that the term court is employed in the following specifications and Claims for brevity only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention in any way.

According to this invention the movable coveror awningcomprises a bridge member extending across the court and adapted to move over the court, the endsof the bridge member being preferably mounted upon wheels adapted to run on tracks disposed parallel with the side lines of the court. A set of wires, cords or the like is connected to the bridge member and to the end ofth e court from which the bridge member is moved, the arrangement being such that when the bridge member is moved into its operative position, these wires are stretched over and above the surface of the court so as to constitute a series of preferably parallel, supporting members. The wires are adapted to support one or more lengths of flexible material, such as canvas or the like, which can be extended to cover the court, either after the bridge member has been so moved or, if desired, simultaneously with the movement of the bridge member.

Preferably the wires or cords are secured to drums or the like mounted upon a shaft adapted to rotate in suitable supports at or behind the end of the court, the opposite ends of these wires being connected to the bridge members so that in moving outwards or away from the shaft the bridge member unwinds the Wires which are rewound upon their drums wheat-he bridge member is returned to its inoperative position. The fiex ible cover is conveniently carried by a series of spreader members which may be suspended from the wires upon pulleys or the like, and the cover, when furled, is preferably supported by the bridge member or by rails or brackets connected thereto, so that the weight of the flexible cover is not borne by the wires, or cords until these wires have been strained whereupon the flexible cover is drawn along the Wires so as to extend over the court. 7 I

Preferably two similar bridge members are provided, adapted to move from the opposite ends of the court towards the centre thereof Where they meet. Each of such bridge members carries a set of wires or cords and a separate flexible cover adapted to extend from the centre to the end of the court. In this preferred arrangement a rotatable shaft extends across the back of each court, carrying not only drums upon which the wires or cords for supporting the roof are Wound when not in use, but also drums to which are secured ropes or wires by means of which the two bridge members are drawn in and out. The arrangement is preferably such that as the supporting wires are unwound from their shaft, the pull exerted by these wires tends to rotate the winding gear in the direction necessary to move the bridge memberinto its operative position, and vice versa, the supporting wires on be ing wound up tend to withdraw the bridge membersto the ends of the court.

WVhen the bridge members meet or complete their out-ward travel, they are conveniently locked together by any convenient means, and a strip of suitable material is Carried by one orboth members so as to cover over the junction between the abutting ends of the two lengths of flexible material.

Meansare also provided whereby, when the two bridge members meet, the support.- ing Wires are'tensioned the arrangement being'preferably such that the tension in each wire on one bridge member is transferred directly to its opposite number on the other bridge member so that the bridge members themselves are relieved of .all loads other than the dead weight they have to bear. Conveniently the tensioning device may be combined with the mechanism which looks both bridge members together when. they are at the end of their outward travel.

The inveniton may be carried out in various ways but oneconstruction according to this invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section showing the cover extended over the court.

Figure 2 is a plan of the construction shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Figure I.

Figure a is a diagrammatic view on a reduced scale showing the bridge members in their inoperative position with the-covers furled.

Fignre 5 is a similar view showing the bridge members in their operative position, the supporting wires strained but the covers still furled.

Figure 6 is a side elevation on the same scale as Figure 5 with the covers in their extended position.

Figure 7 is. a detail view on an enlarged scaleshowing one form of tensioning device for the supporting wires, priorto the. wires being tensioned, and

Figure 8' is a similar view showing the position of the parts after the wires have been tensioned.

Along each side of the court, and pref erably parallel to the centre line thereof and at a suitable distance from the net posts, are disposed rails A preferably laid in a trough so as to lie below the surface of the ground. Extending across the court and adapted to move lengthwise thereof are two bridge members B each formed as a girder structure mounted upon flanged wheels B adapted to run on the rails A and thus to support the girder clear abovethe surface of the court. To each bridge member are attached the ends of a series of wires. cords or the like C, the other ends of which are secured to drums-D carried by one or more shafts D mounted tov rotate in suitable supports at the opposite ends of the court. The wires D are spaced at convenient and preferably equal distances apart and pass. over pulleys D at a suitable'heiglit above the drums D so that when the bridge members B are drawn forward the wires in each set are stretched over the court at a suitable height above it.

Before the flexible cover, (hereafter described) is extended, the supporting wires C are tensioned and means are provided whereby the bridge members are relieved from all loads other than the dead weight of the cover and its supporting wires.

To this end the bridge members are co'u pled together when they meet and preferably the coupling members are also furni'shed with mechanism for: straining the wires C and transferring the strain: in any one wire in one bridge member directly to its opposite number onthe other bridge member.

Such an arrangement is shown by way of example, somewhat diagrammatically in Figures? and 8 where, to simplify the structure, the drums D are shown as being in the same plane as the top of the bridge members. For convenience of description the left-hand bridge member will be referred to as the south girder and the other as the north girder.

Opposite: the end of each supporting or spreader wire C on the south girder is hooked link E adapted to engage a suitable projection on. the north girder. Each hook ispivotallyconnected to; a toothed quadrant E" mountedto. rotate upon the south girder and a stop E on the south girder normal- 1y holds the hooks E- in the raised position shown in Figure 7 before the: two girders are coupled together. Extending across the south girder is a rotatable shaft carrying a series of pinions F each engaging the quadrant E and provided at one or both ends with an operating handle F The supporting or spreader wires C are of such a length and so: attached to their barrels Dthatzwhen the bridge members are being moved towards one another the spreader wires are run out and so occupy the position shown by dotted; lines in Figure 7 hen the spreader wires are completely runout but before they have been tensioned, they occupy the position shown in full lines in Figure 7., When the girders have. been brought suflic-iently close to one another for the hooks E on the south girder to engage the northgirder, the cross shaft F is rotated whereupon the quadrants E cause their respective hooks first to engage the edge of the north girder opposite and then to draw the girders closer together. As the ends of the wires C are so attached to their respective barrels that these barrels cannot further rotate, the additional relative movement of the girders necessarily increases the tension of the spreader wires C sothat these are strained taut to occupy the position shownin Figure 8. In this way the tension in each wire is transferred directly to the corresponding wire on the opposite girder so relieving the girders themselves of all loads other than dead weight. hen the bridge members are to be moved back the shaft F is rotated in an anticlockwise direction and rotation is continued until the under edge of the hooks E' by coming into engagement with the stops E rise clear of the north girder and so enable these girders to be returned to their inoperative position in the manner hereafter described.

Each bridge member B is provided with a series .of' horizontally projecting brackets or rails B along or adjacent to which run the ends of the wires C. These brackets B constitute rigid supports carrying the flexible material while it is furled so that the weight of the flexible cover is borne solely by the girder until the wires C have been strained.

The flexible material G is connected at suitable intervals to a series of spreaders G which are conveniently arched and extend transversely across the court. Each spreader is suspended by means of a series of pulleys 1' from the brackets B or, after they have been unwound and tensioned, from the supporting wires C, the links connecting the pulleys to the Spreaders being longer towards the end of the cover than at the centre thereof as shown in Figure 3.

Prior to the cover being extended, the spreaders are gathered together as diagrammatically shown in Figures 4 and 5 in which position the Spreaders and the flexible material they carry are supported solely by means of the brackets B the loops, of spreaders being disposed at such intervals in the length of the flexible material that the loops into which this material forms on being furled are clear of the ground and if desired supported by some portion of the bridge member.

The bridge members are drawn forward and backward simultaneously by wires or cords preferably arranged in the manner diagran'm'iatically illustrated in Figures 4=6.

At each side of the court a' single wire rope H is attached at one end to the forward end of the south girder this rope then passing round a drum J on the ends of the north shaft D and having its opposite end secured to the rear end of the north girder. Similarly a rope H has one end secured to the forward end of the north girder, this rope passing over drums J on the outer ends of the south shaft D and then having its other end connected to the rear end of the south girder. One of the shafts, in the example shown the south shaft D is provided with an electric motor or other driving means K the arrangement being such that when the shaft is rotated in one direction the bridge members move towards one another, rotation in the opposite direction causing the bridge members to move apart. The arrangement is such that the pulls on the respective wires are neutralized, since when the hauling out rope is actuated to draw the bridge member forward, the correspondingsu iiporting wires as they are drawn out will exert a pull in the opposite direction. i. e. as the supporting wires are unwound the pull exerted by these wires tends to rotate the winding gear in the direction necessary to move the bridge member.

, One of the bridge members, in the example illustrated the north girder, carries a hood or shaft such as H adapted to cover over the junction between the abutting ends .of the two lengths of flexible material after the bridge members have come together.

When not in operation, the two bridge members with their respective lengths of flexible material are housed at opposite ends of the court, the winding mechanism and the bridge members themselves being preferablyprotected by some suitable shelter such as that indicated at N; This shelter may form some part of the structure constituting the stand which carries the spectators chairs. If the cover is to bespread, the shaft D is rotated so that the bridge members, together with their respective lengths of flexible material, are moved forward until the bridge members meet and are locked together, by the hooked links E in the manner already described, that is to say the bridge members move from the position shown in Figure t'into that shown in Figure 5. In so moving forward the supporting wires G are unwound. The forward travel of the bridge members and the simultaneous unwinding of the supporting wires C is automatically effected merely by rotat ing the shaft D. The wires are then tensionedj as for exa'mple'by means of the device illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 so that the tension in each wire on one girder is transferred to its opposite number on the other girder. Thereupon the spreaders G are drawn back from the brackets B upon which they have previously been supported, so that the pulleys G run along the wires C, thus extending the flexible fabric to cover the court as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 6. The rear edge of the covers may ifnecessary be provided with some means whereby they are connected to the rear ends of the cour i i If the cover is; no longer required, first the Spreaders are drawn back so that the weight of the spreaders and of the fabric they carry is again supported by the bracket or rail portion 13 of the girders B. Next the tension in the supporting wires C is released by rotating the shaft F, thus also uncoupling the two bridge members. Thereupon if the shaft D is rotated in the opposite direction to that required to move forward the bidge members, the bridge members will be moved back into the position shown in Figure 2 and simultaneously the-supporting wires 0 will be wound up again upon their drums D.

If desired, instead of providing an electric motor or similar driving means for the shaft D, this shaft can be rotated or its movement can be facilitated by the rising and falling of water tanks provided with means for automatically fillingjand emptying themf In some cases if desired brakes oil or other locking means may be provided for the winding gear and any other suitable form of tensioning device may be employed for example jockey pulleys or some form of toggle mechanism as found convenient. Any suitable flexible material may be used to form the main covering or awning, for example waterproof canvas, aeroplane fabric or the like and in some cases it may be possible to dispense with rails, the wheels supporting the bridge members then running upon the surface of the ground and guiding being effected by the wires employed for hauling in and out the bridge members.

Where a single bridge member is employed or in some cases where two bridge members are provided, the flexible material may be made in two or more separate lengths, which can be connected together after these lengths have been spread and placed in position. For instance, the bridge member may carry one portion of the flexible material while another part thereof is gathered together at the end of the space to be covered. The two parts of this flexible material may then be drawn out towards each other, when the bridge member has been positioned, and the supporting wires have been strained, the movement of the two pieces of flexible material being efl'ected by hand, separately, or the two pieces of flexible material may be drawn out simultaneously by wires or cords and similarly withdrawn. Such an arrange- 7 ment distributes the weight of the flexible material when gathered together. Various means may be adopted for joining the length or lengths of flexible material em ployed to form the whole cover.

The dimensions of the girders or bridge members is preferably such that the cover is at a sufficient height above the court to enable the mowing or rolling operations to be carried out without undue interference, suitable lengths of transparent material being if necessary incorporated in the covering material to facilitate the attendants work.

The details of construction may be arranged o1. modified in accordance with requirements.

lVhat we claim as ourinvention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a movable cover for a court the combination of a bridge member extending across and above the court, a plurality of cords having their ends respectively secured to the bridge member and to one end of the court, means for moving the bridge member over the court and simultaneously straining the cords over and above the surface of the across and above the. court, a flexible-coversupported solely by the bridge member when in itsfurled condition, a plurality of cords having their ends respectively secured to the bridge member and to one end of the court, means for moving the bridge member over the court and simultaneously straining the cords over and above the surface of the court and means for suspending the flexible cover from the strained cords as set forth.

'3. In a movable cover for a court the combination of two similar bridge members extending across the court, a plurality of cords having their ends respectively secured to a bridge member and to the adjacent end of the court, means for moving the bridge members over and above the court towards the center thereof and simultaneously straining thecords over and above the surface-of the court and a flexible cover supported solely by the bridge member and adapted to remain furled until the cords hav been strained as set forth.

4. In a. movable cover for a court the combination of two similar bridge members extending across the court, a shaft rotatably mountedat each end vof the court, cords having their opposite ends respectively connected to a shaft and to the adjacent bridge member, means for moving the bridge members towards the centre of the court and. simultaneously straining the cords over and above the surface of the court and a flexible cover supported by each set of cords after they have been thus strained as set forth.

5. In a movable cover fora court the combination of'two similar bridge members ex tending across the court, a shaft rotatably mounted at each end of the court, a plurality of cords having their opposite ends respectively connected to the shaft and to the adjacent bridge member, means for moving the bridge members towards the centre of the court and simultaneously unwinding and straining the cords over and above the surface of the court, means whereby the tension in each cord is then increased and transferred to the corresponding cord on the opposite bridge member, a flexible cover carried by each bridge member and supported solely thereby in a furled condition until the cords have been strained, and means for suspending each cover from its respective set of cords and thus extending each cover overand above the surface of the court as set forth.

6. In a movable cover for a court the combination of a bridge member extending across and above the court, a flexible cover supported thereby in a furled condition, a plurality of cords Having their ends respec tively secured to the bridge member and to one end of the court and means for moving forward or retracting the bridge member and :for simultaneously paying out and winding up the cords so as to ensure the necessary tension on the cords during the movement of the bridge member as set forth.

7. In a movable cover for a court the combination of two similar bridge members extending across the court, a shaft rotatably mounted at each end of the court, cords having their opposite ends respectively connected to a shaft and to the adjacent bridge member, means for moving the bridge members towards the centre of the court, and for simultaneously unwinding and straining the cords, an automatic coupling device carried by the bridge members adapted to engage when the bridge members meet at the centre of the court, means whereby the tension in each cord is then increased and transferred to the corresponding cord on the opposite bridge member, a flexible Cover comprising a length of flexible material, and a series of spreaders connected thereto supported by their respective bridge member when in a furled condition and means whereby the spreaders can be moved along the cords after the latter have been strained as set forth.

8. In a movable cover for a court the combination of two similar bridge members extending across the court, a shaft rotatably mounted at each end of the court, cords having their opposite ends respectively connected to a shaft and to the adjacent bridge member, of a flexible cover carried by each bridge member and comprising a length of flexible material secured to a series of spreaders supported solely by their respective bridge member when in a furled condi tion, rope gearing adapted to move the bridge members simultaneously towards or away from one another and simultaneously to pay out or wind up the cords and means for imparting additional tension to each set of cords so that the spreaders can be caused to travel thereon and thus extend each flexible cover above its-half of the court as set forth.

9. In a movable cover for a court the combination of two similar bridge members eX- tending across the court, wheels supporting said bridge members, tracks for the wheels on either side of the court, a flexible cover for each half of the court comprising a length of flexible material and a series of spreaders connected thereto supported solely by the respective bridge members when in a furled condition, a shaft rotatably mounted behind each end of the court, two sets of cords having their opposite ends respectively connected to a shaft and to the adjacent bridge memiber, rope gearing adapted to move the bridge members simultaneously towards and away from one another and at the same time to pay out or wind up the cords, means whereby the bridge members are coupled together when they meet at the centre of the court, means whereby the tension in each cord is then increased and transferred to the corresponding cord on the opposite bridge member and means whereby the spreaders can be moved along the cords after the latter have been thus tensioned as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed our. names to this specification.

GEOFFREY CROMWELL EDWARD HAMPDEN. FREDERICK WILFRID SCOTT STOKES. 

